CJ commits to Lions - CJ van der Linde has joined the Lions on a two-year contract from Western Province.

After much speculation, the Lions have confirmed that Van der Linde will officially join the Lions on 1 August.

‘CJ comes with a wealth of experience and has tremendous value to add,’ said Lions coach John Mitchell.

‘I’m really looking forward to working with a player of CJ’s calibre and experience. I’ve always believed in developing youngsters as part of the expansion process and exposing them to experienced mentors such as CJ.’

Still no Sarel for Griquas – Sarel Pretorius will miss Griquas’ second Currie Cup of the season when they tackle the Lions in Kimberley this weekend.

The scrumhalf is still sidelined with a knee injury, which sees Shannon Rick retain the No 9 jersey. There’s another injury blow for Abré Minnie’s men as Rocco Jansen, who grabbed a brace in the draw against WP last weekend, is also ruled out. Fabian Juries starts in his place.